Fruits, vegetables and virgin olive oil are the great champions of the raw and should be included daily and generously in the diet. But not all foods should be eaten raw.
Is it healthier to eat raw or cooked foods? Between raw food, a way of eating that only accepts as edible and adequate foods that can be eaten raw, and the current fashion of hyper-processed, manipulated and denatured food, which practically does not know what it means to consume the fruits of the earth as it offers us, there is a middle ground.
In our technological world, a regular consumption of raw allows us to maintain a fresher, more direct, more natural relationship with foods with better nutritional prospects, since their presence in the diet is a guarantee for nutritional balance.
Therefore, neither eating only raw nor excluding them from the diet would be balanced proposals.
The first is not to include starchy foods (such as legumes and cereals) because they require cooking to be digested, when they are the basis of food and should provide 50-60% of daily energy.
The second, being scarce in vitamins and minerals, as well as other beneficial compounds. This is the case of flavonones, polyphenols and anthocyanins, present mainly in fruits and vegetables.
Today, within the framework of a healthy diet, it is recommended to consume a minimum of two daily servings of fruits and two of vegetables, one of them raw, to be able to be distributed throughout the day, so that they are present in each of the different food intakes.
And it is in this line where the famous WHO recommendation “five crudes a day” is located, which has created a school. Nor should we forget that, along with these basic foods, we can incorporate other raw foods: unroasted nuts, dried fruits, sprouts, mueslis, honey …
Olive oil, which is advised to take virgin and raw, fruits, which almost all are taken raw, and vegetables, many of which are eaten without cooking, are the great exponents of raw, and should be part of the daily diet, in abundance.
Consumed this is how its properties are best used, while the rest of foods considered as basic (legumes, cereals, meat, fish, dairy and eggs) require to a greater or lesser extent the action of heat to be consumed.
DOES EATING A LOT OF RAW SLIMMING LIGHT?
There is no direct relationship between eating raw and calories: lettuce is very low energy and walnut is very low.
However, including raw foods in the diet can help reduce caloric intake: being almost always plant foods, they have the satiating power of fiber, and as they require more chewing, they induce to eat less.
DO RAWS HAVE HEALING VIRTUES?
Eat raw, i.e., fruits, vegetables, nuts… It is healthy, it suits us all and it is advisable to do it daily.
These are foods with benefits for the body, what happens is that in food, as in almost everything, it is more effective to think in terms of prevention than specific curative effects.
BUT IS IT GOOD FOR DEFENSES TO EAT RAW FOODS?
There are conflicting opinions and there are those who point out that it is not that the raw increases the defenses, but that the cooked decreases them.
Thus, the safest thing, today, is to take advantage of the nutritional content of raw foods to maintain a good immune system within the framework of a healthy diet.
SHOULD THEY BE EATEN RAWER IN SUMMER?
The recommended number of raw food servings does not vary from season to season.
But the type of food does, because one of the advantages associated with raw consumption is that it can follow seasonal rhythms, which benefits health, the senses and the pocket.
Fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, help hydrate.
HOW CAN WE TAKE RAWER?
Specializing in the creation of all kinds of salads is a good start, as they accommodate a wide variety of vegetables and even fruits, nuts, seeds …
Another measure is to establish routines where they are accommodated, for example, as part of breakfasts, snacks and desserts, or as a garnish for the “second courses”.
DOES COOKING A FOOD “DEVITALIZE” IT?
When cooking a food, important modifications occur in its original composition.
In some cases, it is for good, for example, by turning foods into edibles that would not be, and other times for the worse, for example, losing or destroying nutrients or vital principles that are very useful to us.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN COOKING FATS AND PROTEINS?
Fats and fire do not marry well; High temperatures favor its degradation and give rise to inadvisable products such as acrolein.
On the other hand, the cooking of proteins reacts with carbohydrates from the food itself, forming new compounds for which there is still not enough data.
WHAT IF TOO MANY RAW FOODS ARE EATEN?
Yes, and that can detract from other basic foods, making it difficult, for example, to get the percentages of the main nutrients (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) that are needed throughout the day.
IS IT COMPATIBLE TO EAT RAW AND COOKED?
Whenever we have our health and well-being as our goal, the ideal is to combine both ways of eating.
Making it only raw or only cooked is like thinking in black or white. Balance must prevail and the current recommendations are along these lines.
HOW TO GET A CHILD TO EAT RAW?
It can be more difficult, because they are not usually great lovers of vegetables, and less raw. But it’s not impossible.
We can start with the foods that they least reject, accompanying their favorites.
It is a worthwhile effort and a habit that we should instill in them from a young age with our example.
